Tunnel construction.



No. 678,758. Patnted July I6, 190:.

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TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION.

(Application filed may 4, 1900.) 0 Modem 2 Sheets$heet l.

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No. 678,758. Patented July I6, l90l. J. F. OBOURKE.

TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION.

(Application filed May 4, 1900'. 2 Sheets-Sheet z.

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JOHN F. OROURKE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TUNNEL CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent No. 678,758, dated 3' 16, 1901.

Application filed May 4; 1900. Serial No. 15,454. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN F. OROURKE, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Construction of Tunnels or Subways, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to the construction of subaqueous tunnels or subways, and has for its special object to provide a practicable way of constructing such subways where the roof of the subway is at or above the level of the bottom of the river or other body of water under which the subway is to be constructed, or if below such level is so near the same that it is impossible to construct the subway from the shore in the manner usually practiced.

In accordance with this invention it is proposed to build the bottom walls and roof of the subway in place in the water without pumping before completion. The method and the means by which this is accomplished will be more fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which for purposes of explanation they are illustrated.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section in the central plane of the subway, showing a portion thereof completed. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, a portion of the subway roof and walls being broken away, while a confer-dam at the shore end and the extension of the subway in the other direction are indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a transverse section showing on one side of the dotted central line the centers in position and on the other side ofthe line showing the subway finished. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but illustrating a subway of different form.

It will be understood that by reason of the necessarily small scale of the drawings the proportions of some of the parts are relatively exaggerated.

2f Assuming that the waterway under which the subway is to be formed cannot be obstructed across its entire width, a way is first prepared for a suitable distance, as by dredging a ditch, as indicated by the lines at a in Figs. 3 and 4, and the foundation is prepared, as by driving piles b b, as shown in Fig. 4-, or otherwise, according to the nature of the material on which the tunnel is to rest. A cotter-dam c, of sheet-piling orother material, is then placed around the section of the tunnel to be built, its chief functions being to exclude the outside material and to form a mold for the concrete of which the subway bottom and walls are made, and a concrete floor cl, of suitable thickness, is laid upon the bottom of the previously-prepared way. If necessary, tie-bolts e may be employed to prevent the spreading of the two sides of the mold. The floor of the subway having been suitably prepared by removal of laitance, leveling, &c., centers f to form a core-mold are placed thereon from end to end of the section to be built. If desired, a metal or other shell g may also be placed upon the centers, although such shell will not be essential in all cases. If it is employed, its lower edges may be flanged inward, as indicated at h in Fig. 3, in order that a tight joint may be made with a metal covering i for the subwayfloor. Over the end of the shell or temporary structure, a little back from the extremity and extending from side to side of the outer mold, is built a bulkhead 7a, which itself forms the end of the mold for the side walls and roof, the part of the coffer-dam first placed across the way of the ditch serving mainly to keep mud or sand from filling in the end of the ditch before the centers or temporary structure are placed and having to be removed before the next section is begun. Concrete m is then placed around and over the temporary structure or centers and between the walls of the mold by appliances adapted for such work-as, for example, the dumping-buckets shown and described in Letters Patent of the United States No. 627, 306, dated June 20, 1899, and No. 632,323, dated Septem her 5, 1899, to form the walls and roofof the tunnel. fer-dam along the sides is removed to the level of the top of the subway-roof. The bulkhead is set back upon the end of that portion of the subway already built and the construction of the next section of the subway is proceeded with in the manner already described. It

When the concrete has set, the cofwill be observed by reference to Fig. 1 that the floor of the first section is carried beyond the walls and roof, so that there shall be a breaking of joints with the next section, whereby the possibility of Vertical displacement is obviated. When the subway has been completed from shore to shore, acofferdam (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2) is built around each shore end, if necessary, and the water is pumped out of the subway. The centers may then be removed and the floor of the subway dressed off to provide for proper drainage, a lining is placed, if necessary, and the subway is otherwise prepared for use. It will be observed that by this method it becomes unnecessary to pump out the water until the subway is completed. Heretofore the pumping of water during the whole period of construction has added largely to the expense, and in many cases it is impracticable to remove the water, owing to the great pressure at considerable depths and to the nature of the material through which it is desired to build the subway. Furthermore, by this method the subway is practically waterproof as it is built and can be made entirel y so afterward.

If it is desired to have a flat roof, as shown in Fig. 4, girders n may be placed in position previous to or during the placing of the concrete. If desired, the sides of the ditch may be filled in after the placing of the concrete or at any convenient time, as shown at 0 in Figs. 3 and 4.

The method has been illustrated and described as carried out beneath a body of water, such as a river or lake; but it is equally applicable to the construction of tunnels or subways in quicksands or other loose material saturated with water where pumping would be dangerous or impracticable before completion of the subway.

It will be evident that the subway may have any desired form other than those shown, (such as cylindrical, for example) that the details of the work may be carried out in any desired manner, and that the relative order of some of the steps of the method herein set forth may be varied according to the conditions of each particular case. Accordingly the invention is not to be limited to the precise details of construction herein shown and described nor to the precise order of the several steps herein set forth.

It will be understood that by the term concrete I include any material capable of solidifying under water sufficiently to exclude water.

I claim as my invention- 1. The method of constructing subaqueous tunnels or subways which consists in forming the floorof the tunnel or subway, placing a mold about the same, placing a core-mold upon the floor, placing concrete through the water within the mold and around and over the core-mold, and finally removing the water, substantially as set forth.

2. The method of constructing subaqueous tunnels or subways which consists in forming the fiocr of the tunnel or subway, placing a coffer-dam to form a mold about the same, erecting centers on the fioor, forming abulk head over the end of the centers between the walls of the coffer dam, placing concrete around and over the centers and between the walls of sheet-piling and finally removing the water, substantially as set forth.

3. The method of constructing subaqueous tunnels or subways which consists in forming the floor of the tunnel or subway, placing a mold about the same, placing a core-mold upon the floor, placing concrete through the water within the mold and around and over the core-mold, removing the water and finally removing the core-mold and finishing the interior of the tunnel or subway, substantially as described.

4. A tunnel or subway structure comprising a floor, a mold around the same, removable centers erected on the floor, and concrete walls and roof placed around and over the centers and within the mold, substantially as shown and described.

This specification signed and witnessed this 28th day of April, A. D. 1900.

JOHN F. OROURKE.

In presence of ANTHONY N. JESBERA, Louis B. MOORE. 

